


A Flash of Red

by rosesscythes



Category: RWBY, Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-07
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-10-23 16:01:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17686604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosesscythes/pseuds/rosesscythes
Summary: Bart finds a friend after he has a bit of an accident.





	A Flash of Red

**Author's Note:**

> A commission for my friend Kai!

Bart cursed to himself as he finally came to a stop, dirt spraying up beneath his feet as he practically slid a few yards.

“A lame-o supervillain like the Psycho Pirate really made me run into the Speed Force?” he groaned, half-facepalming, half-pushing his hair up out of his eyes. “C’mon Bart, what is this? Amateur hour?” He and the rest of Young Justice had been called in to stop the aforementioned Psycho Pirate from stealing prototype dimensional warping tech from STAR Labs, and Bart had realized the easiest way to counteract the unstable wormhole was by running into it fast enough and with good enough timing that he’d run into the Speed Force just as he crossed the portal. Sure, it was a good plan, and he wasn’t dead, but it certainly was grating to him that he’d used one of his most powerful assets to stop a B-tier at most supervillain. Not to mention said supervillain was acting alone.

Impulse took a look around. He was in some sort of courtyard outside a...well, it looked like a castle, with a huge imposing clock tower and wide gates. Through the windows, however, he could see students in uniforms sitting at long circular desks as teachers in front of blackboards discussed various subjects.

“Well, this is a new one,” Bart muttered to himself. “But no time to waste, time to ge-”

“Hey!” a new voice called, interrupting his thoughts. He swiveled and stared at the girl who was looking at him. She was about his age, with dyed red tips accentuating her black hair, as well as strikingly silver eyes. She was dressed in what seemed to be the uniform of the school, though a suspicious red object hung behind her waist. She waved sheepishly. “I haven’t seen you around before! What team are you on?”

Bart blinked. He probably shouldn’t be interacting with the locals of this...well, given what he’d done to get here, it was more than likely an alternate dimension. Still, she did have some familiarity with teams... “Well, I’m technically a Flash, but rea-”

She cut him off again. “Team FLSH?” She tilted her head inquisitively. “I haven’t heard of them. Are you not a freshman? I just thought you were because you look like you’re my age, and I got advanced to Beacon a little early. I mean, it’s a little embarrassing but I’m 15 and the rest of my class is 17, though maybe Weiss could pass for a little younger.”

He blinked. She talked a lot. Almost as much as he did. But she did at least clarify that this was apparently a school called Beacon. He sighed. “Let’s start over. I’m Impulse! Who are you?” He held out a hand for her to shake.

She took the hand in her own and nodded. “Oh, right! I’m Ruby Rose. Sorry, I can be a little awkward sometimes.” She blushed slightly. “Cool costume! But where’s your weapon?”

He resisted being somewhat indignant at the costume remark. A lot of superheroes, including himself, much preferred having their outfits referred to as uniforms or suits, not costumes. Still, she clearly wasn’t familiar with him, or with the Flash in general. “Weapon?” he inquired, trying his best not to look or sound conspicuous.

He apparently failed, as she struck him with an odd look. “You know!” With a motion that was far quicker than Bart expected, she reached behind herself to the rectangle, pulling it out. It unfolded quickly, various parts moving in tandem to reveal a bottom point, a shaft, and a scythe head with what looked to be a barrel on top. She swung it down and away from him, digging its point into the ground. He took a step back. “Like my dear Crescent Rose right here! I mean, I just love looking at other people’s weapons, even though nothing can replace her. I-”

He cut her off before she could start rambling again. “I, uh, left it at my dorm room?” He winced as it came out far more like a question than he really intended it to.

Ruby blinked. “Then why aren’t you in uniform?”

Bart sighed. This was getting him nowhere, and speedster that he was, he hated going nowhere. This was a dimension as far removed from his own as he could figure, and this girl seemed nice enough (albeit a little clueless at times) that he decided he may as just tell her the truth. He rubbed the back of his head with his hand. “Look, Ruby.,.I’ll tell you the truth. It’s gonna sound really weird, but it’s true. I’m a superhero from an alternate dimension. I kinda ran too fast into a wormhole and ended up here, and I really wanna get home before my team thinks I’m dead...again.”

He expected her to look at him strangely, or run away and get some sort of authority, or even use that scythe of hers to take a swing at him. He did not expect her to blink and shrug. “I mean...it’s not the weirdest thing I’ve ever heard.”

He gaped at her in shock. “It’s not?!”

Ruby smiled. “Nope!” She rubbed her hands together for a second as she thought about her reply. “If we’re sharing secrets and you’ll be gone soon anyways.:.one of my best friends is a robot who can use aura, and there’s a rumor around my school that our headmaster can stop time as his semblance!”

Bart blinked before smirking. He didn’t know what aura or semblances were, but they sounded cool. Still, she seemed charming enough… “What if I told you one of my best friends was an actual alien? Who could fly and shoot lasers out of his eyes?”

He could tell Ruby was impressed. “Woah! So it’s like he has two semblances? Or does he fly by shooting the lasers out of the ground? And what does he look like? Cuz my friend Penny just looks like a normal human. Or is he a Faunus with wings so he flies with those?”

Bart laughed. This girl’s energy was infectious! “Nah, he just looks like any other guy.” He threw his hands behind his head and started walking nowhere in particular. Ruby stowed her scythe and almost instinctively followed. “Say, Ruby, what are semblances anyways?”

“Oh, well,” she smiled softly, looking slightly up at the sky. “I suppose they’re kinda like superpowers! Everyone has one, but it takes a lot to actually unlock them. Like my friend Jaune! He’s still trying to figure his out.”

Bart grinned. “Oh? So what’s your semblance?”

Ruby grinned right back. “I can put up short bursts of extreme speed, and if I really focus, I can make myself invincible by turning into rose petals while I do it!”

“So a speedster, huh?” Bart was amazed by the coincidence. A red-clad hero from another dimension with superspeed, and he just had to run into her. “That’s actually my superpower! I can run so fast I can turn into energy and do stuff like time travel or access other dimensions!”

“I wonder if I could do that if I got really really good at using my semblance,” Ruby mused. “I mean, I’ve seen Professor Goodwitch do some crazy stuff with her semblance, so it’s not like. Out of the realm of possibility, y’know?”

Bart nodded in understanding. “I get that. Usually I just run fast. The whole time travel or dimension thing...well, my powers run in my family, and based on both my experiences and everything I’ve heard? Usually we only figure that stuff out when we really need to.” He slapped his head suddenly. “Oh! Right! I need to get home! Sorry Ruby, it was great fun talking to you, but I’ve gotta run.” A thought hit him just as suddenly. “Hey, you said you were a speedster, right?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, in my family, it’s tradition to have a race with fellow speedsters as a first goodbye. And besides, a good push makes dimensional travel easy. Wanna go?”

Ruby looked around, as if to check that there weren’t any teachers watching, before nodding vigorously. “Sure!”

They got ready in running positions, standing away from the front gates of the school, Ruby stowing her scythe. On Bart’s mark, the duo shot forward, electricity and rose petals racing side by side.

Bart ran as fast as he could, panting against the strain. Behind him, he could hear Ruby pushing herself, only just managing to keep up, close behind him but with a widening gap.

Just when Bart was worried he’d lose her, that she couldn’t give him that one last push, he heard a rapid mechanical whir. Giving a glance behind him as he felt the telltale crackle that was the Speed Force, he saw the back side of Crescent Rose swing out and land solidly against his back, whacking him hard into the Speed Force.

He came tumbling out the other end, back home, to a worried Kon, Tim, and Cassie. Looking around, he realized they were still in STAR Labs, with a handcuffed, knocked out Psycho Pirate being watched by Jaime.

“Bart!” Cassie yelled as she and Tim rushed forward to pick him up and embrace him.

“Hey guys!” he wheezed, wincing at the slight pain in his back. That was gonna leave a bruise for sure.

“Where’d you go?” Kon asked.

Bart smiled. “Well, you wouldn’t believe it! I went to another dimension, came out near a school, and met what may have been my counterpart within the first minute! It was really weird, but she was really cool!”

The Young Justice Trinity shared a glance signifying a mild bit of doubt, before Kon clapped him on the shoulder and helped carry him. “We’re just glad you came back, buddy.”

“Me too!” Bart smiled, unknowing that even as he got a warm welcome from his teammates, Ruby was back in her home dimension getting chewed out by Oobleck.

After all, for as fast as they all were, speedsters truly shared one thing in common.

They were all perennially late.


End file.
